Northwest Missouri prepares for flooding

ROCK PORT — Emergency management officials in far northwestern Missouri are cautioning residents in flood-prone areas to be ready to evacuate in the next couple of weeks or sooner.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is gradually increasing releases from upstream dams on the Missouri River to drain water from record rains in Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas. The flow from the Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota is expected to top out at 150,000 cubic feet per second on June 14.

In Atchison County, emergency managers have a shelter on stand-by as they watch nearly a dozen levees that could be topped. KQTV reports the water is expected to flood low-lying fields, possibly wiping out crops of corn and beans.

Just to the south, officials in Holt County say people living in the floodplain should also plan to evacuate.